Discover San Diego’s Unsung Treasure

Mission Trails Regional Park is a natural escape surprisingly close to the busyness of downtown San Diego. Just eight miles from downtown is one of the largest city parks in the United States. According to the Mission Trails Regional Park website, the park is made up of 7,220 acres of “both natural and developed recreational areas,” and includes over 60 miles of hiking trails.

The Five Peak Challenge within the park includes Cowles Mountain, the highest point in San Diego County at 1,592 feet in elevation. The other four peaks in the challenge are all above 1,000 feet and offer a great chance to exercise in a beautiful location with panoramic views of downtown, San Diego Bay and Point Loma. Margaret Mann, a PLNU junior visual art major, loves the Cowles Mountain hike.

“It’s short enough that anyone can do it, but just long enough to give you a little kick,” said Mann. “And it’s beautiful, especially at night when you can see the city and surrounding hills.”

Laura Dupont, a junior psychology major, added, “It’s a pretty short hike, so I enjoy doing it after dark to add a little something. From the top you can look out and see the lights which always reminds me of that song from LaLa Land.”

Another relaxing way to experience the beauty of the park is to make a visit to the Old Mission Dam, an easy two mile walk from the visitor center. The dam, which is 200 years old, offers a peaceful spot for a picnic or run.

Tom Thompson, a volunteer at the visitor center in the park, has been a trail guide for over eight years. He takes groups on free nature walks and also helps with the hundreds of students that come through the visitor’s center on a weekly basis. As he showed me the visitor center, he pointed out the 40 unique plants that could be spotted just from the sidewalk of the building. Despite an obvious love for the park he knows so well, Thompson says that it’s not without its downfalls.

“With any park, whether it’s a city, state or national park, one needs to achieve some sort of balance between getting people to come and see things and making it enough of nature that’s left to make it worthwhile,” said Thompson. “And that fight goes on in Congress, and with rangers and with people all the time.”

The most important message I left the park with was to remember to leave everything the way I found it and to be respectful of the beauty around me, that’s the only way it’s preserved.

Mission Trails Regional Park is located off the I-8 and the I-15 freeways, and is only a 25 minute drive from Point Loma. The visitor center is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and free guided nature walks are offered at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Visit mtrp.org for more information about the Mission Trails Regional Park.

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The Point

As another school year comes to an end, students across PLNU are scrambling to finalize their summer jobs, internships, classes and journeys home. A few students, however, have different plans in store for the long-awaited break as part of PLNU’s Worship Arts program.

Every year, PLNU’s Summer Ministry Teams (SMT) go out as traveling bands to Nazarene camps and local churches throughout California, Arizona, New Mexico and Hawaii to serve and worship together for a number of weeks.

This summer is no exception, with two SMT teams, long-term and short-term, composed of PLNU students of all levels, who have committed to taking worship to a whole new level.

“This will be my third, and last, summer doing SMT,” said junior Sarah Matter, who is the team leader and drummer of the long-term SMT team Selah. “It’s honestly an indescribable experience; to have the chance to be immersed in what I love to do while being surrounded by people who have become like family to me is something that I will cherish for years to come.”

While the majority of their time will be spent traveling and performing worship, each team will also be able to interact and spend time with the kids, young adults and staff at each camp and local church.

“As much as I love the music and the worship aspect of what we do on SMT, I would say that getting to meet and hang out with so many different and amazing people is one of my favorite parts of the entire experience,” said junior Aaron Yoshida, who is a part of this year’s short-term SMT team. “I can’t wait to grow and be inspired by the people we will encounter just as much as our team will hopefully inspire them through our music and worship.”

In just a few short weeks, both Summer Ministry Teams will have the opportunity to take PLNU into the places and to the people that not all students are able to reach. Through worship, fellowship and the making of lifelong memories, PLNU’s SMT teams are ready to make a difference and make great music, too.